Fire extinguisher for airplanes



vv. J; SANKEY, 1R.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR AIRPLANES.

APPLiCATlON FILED MAY I6. 192i.

gl 93 l il. D Patented June 1139 1922.

` 2 SHEETS -sHEET 2.

. GA) S f/l/G//VE WUR/JEVS NETE@ STATS arrasar oasi-ca.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR AIRPLANES.

Lineair.

Application filed May 16,

Fire Extinguishers for Airplanes, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to airplanes, dirigible balloons and the like, andhas particular reference to the fuselage therefor, the purpose of myinvention being the provision of a fuselage having means forextinguishing maintaining the gates any and all confiagrations occurringin thev engine and fuel compartments during iiight and therebypreventing theusual disastrous results and permitting of the safelanding of the airplane.

It is also provide a fire a purpose of my invention to extinguisherwhich includes a plurality of gates controlling draft openings formed inthe fuselage, and means for in open position which is manuallyreleasable lto effect the simultaneous and positive closing of the draftopenings, thus hermetically sealing the fuel and engine compartmentsland preventing the further supplyV of`air thereto so as to positivelyeffect the extinguishing ofthe flames.

l will describe one form of fuselage,vand one form of fire extinguisherembodying my invention and will then point out the novel featuresthereof in claims.

.ln the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 isa view showing in perspective the front end portion of thefuselage having applied thereto one form offire extinguisher embodyingmy invention.l j

Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sec` tional view of a portion ofthe front end of the fuselage shown in Figure 1.A

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional'view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure1.

Figures 4 and 5 are plan views of the lire n extinguisher in active andinactive positions, respectively, with the fuselage shown'diagrammatically.

' Similar reference characters refer to-siinilar parts in each ofthe'several views. y Referring specifically to the drawings andparticularly to Figure 1, l have here shown a conventional form offuselage for airplanes having at its eXtreme forward end an enginecompartment designated at E, and

a fuel' compartment designated at F di openings 26 Specication ofLetters Patent. Pghtgngd Jun@ 13, 11922@ i921. serial No. 469,844.

rectly in the rear of the engine compartment, all asA clearly shown inFigure 4. The fuse lage includes side walls 15 and 15*L formed withdraft openings 16 and 16a, a solid top wall 17 suitably secured inspanning position with relation to the engine and fuel compartments, anda front wall 18 formed with a multiplicity of openings '19 whichcooperate to form a front draft opening. It will be understood that theside draft opening 16 and the front draft opening 19 cooperate inpermitting the circulation of air through the engine compartment ineffecting the cooling of the engine, with the air travelling in thepaths indicated by the arf rows in Figures 2 and 5.

The operators seat is designated at S in Figure 1 and as is customary.is directly in the rear of the fuel compartment.

rlhe fire extinguisher forming the subject matter of my invention ofnecessity includes certain portions of the fuselage, but essentiallyconsists of side gates G and G anda front gate G2, all of which areadapted lto be maintained in open position by latching devices L, L andL2, respectively, and moved to closed position by means of springs whena cam latch actuating means is operated by the driver. The side gates Gandv G control the draft openings 16 and 162, andas shown in Figure 1are supported for outward swinging movement by means of hinges 2Osecured to the side walls 15 and 15a and to the front ends of the gates.This particular manner of mounting the gates facilitates the circulationof air through the engine compartment as will be readily vunderstood byan' observation of Figure 5. Each gate or G is normallyl urged to closedposition by means of a spring 21 secured at one end to an angle plate.22 secured to the fuselage and at the other end to a flange 23 formed onthe upper edge of the gate. Each gate is also formed with a flange 24 onthev lower edge thereof, the'purpose of the two flanges 23 and 24 beingto provide the necessary reinforcement for the gate. rlhe front gate G2comprises a` rectangular sheet of metal mounted for vertical slidingmovementin guide plates 25 secured to the front wall 18 in the mannerclearly shown in Figures 1 and 2. The

plate forming 'the gate G2 is provided with corresponding in number andposition to the gate is in open position as shown in ico I no theopenings 19 so that when Figures 1 and 2 the two sets of openings 4upper ends of the springs are secured to the Cio hooked ends of rods 28depending from and secured to a flange 29n formed on a latch plate 29. Y

The latching device L2 for maintaining the gate G2 in open positionagainst the tension of the springs 27 comprises in the present instancea latch plate 29, a latching finger 30 and a releasing member 31.I Thelatch plate 29 -is secure to the upper end of the gate G2 in the mannerclearly shown in Figures l'and 3 with its lower edge con stituting aprojection which is adapted to be engaged by a finger 30 for holding thegate against downward movement. rlhe latching finger 30 depends from abar 32 secured to the front wall 18, such finger being formed ofresilient material and having its lower end inturned so as to benormally disposed in the path of movement of the plate 29, The releasingmember 31-is disposed between the plate 29 and the finger 30 and ismounted for oscillatory movement so as to force the finger outwardly todisengage the lower edge of the latchplate 29 thereby permitting thesprings 27 to draw the gate to closed position. The gate G2 is adaptedto be latched in open position b manually lifting the gate through theme ium of the flange 29a, the resiliency of the latch finger `causingthe same to engage the lower edge of the latch plate when the gate hasbeen lifted sufficiently, as will be understood.

'lihe latching devices L and L are .of the same construction so that adescription of one will suffice for both. rllhe latching device L or Lcomprises in the present instance a substantially U-shaped yoke 33mounted for swinging movement with a bracket 34 secured to the side wall15 or 15n at a point in the rear of the draft opening 16 or 16'. Thevertical portion of the yoke 33 is sufficiently wide to allow the freeend of the gate to repose thereon when the latter is in open position,lugs 35 beingformed on the yoke for limiting the inward movement thereofwith respect to the gate when the latter is in openl position. Becauseof the mounting of the yoke 33, it will be clear that it can be swungrearwardly from the latching position shown in Figure 5 to the releasedposition shown in Figure 4, so that the gate automatically swings toclosed position under the action of the spring 21. it is to beunderstood that in latching the gate 1n open position, it is manuallyswung outwardly and the yoke properly positioned so as to engage thefree end of the gate in the manner shown in Figure 5.

The mechanism for actuating the several latching devices comprises ashaft 37 journaled in the fuselage at a point directly in front of theoperators seat S, such shaft being provided with an actuating handle 38disposed in convenient relation to the operator occupying the seat S.The opposite ends of the shaft 37 project from the opposite sides of thefuselage as clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5, and these projected endsare formed with cranks 39 which are operatively connected to the yokes33 through rods or cables 40 and rings 41. The yokes in turn areoperatively connected to cranks 42 formed in the opposite ends of theshaft 43 through the medium of rods or cables 44 having turnbuckles 45for effecting a'longitudinal adjustment of the rods. These rods 44 areconnected to the rings 41 at one end and to U-shaped links 46 at theother, the latter being mounted on the free ends of the cranks 42. Theshaft 43 is journaled in ears 47 formed on plates 48 secured to thefront wall 18. This shaft 43 constitutes an integra] part of thereleasing member 31 so that by rotation of the shaft an actuation of thereleasing member is effected to move the latching finger 30 to releasedposition.

lF rom the foregoing mechanism it will be clear that the operatoroccupying the seat S can readily effect the simultaneous closure of allof the gates by pulling the handle 38 from the position shown in Figure5 to that shown in Figure 4 thereby rotating the shaft 37 to cause therearward movement ofthe cranks 39 and thus exert a rearward pull on theyokes 33 to cause the latter to disengage the gates G and G. `With therearward movement of the yokes, the cranks 42 are likewise actuated thusrotating the shaft 43 to cause the releasing member to move the latchingfinger 30 to disengaging position with respect to the latch plate 29. j

In practice, the several gates are moved to open position before thetakeoff of the airplane thus providing of the necessary draft throughthe engine compartments to effect a cooling of the engine during flight.Should a confiagration occur in either the engine compartment or thefuel compartmentJ the operator immediately pulls the handle 38 thuscausing all of the gates to close simultaneously and thereby cutting 0Ha further supply of air to the engine and fuel compartments. As soon asthe oxygen trapped in the fuselage is consumed, the flames will beextinguished thus allowing the safe landing of the airplane andelimiarmenia hating the possibility' of the fuel tank eX- ploding or anyinjury to the operator as a result of this conflagration.

Although l have herein shown and described only one form of fuselage andone form of fire extinguisher embodying my invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes and modifications may be made hereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the spirit andscope of the appended claims. i

What l claim is:

l. ln combination, a fuselage including engine and fuel compartmentshaving draft openings in the walls thereof, gates controlling saidopenings, releasable means for maintaining the gates in open position,and manuall y operable means for simultaneously closing all of the gateswhereby the further supply of air to the compartments is prevented.

2. ln combination, a fuselage having draft openings formed in the frontand side walls thereof, horizontally mounted gates controlling the sideopenings, a sliding gate controlling the front opening, means fornormally urging the gates to closed position, latching devices formaintaining the gates in open position against the action of said urgingmeans, and manually operable means for simultaneously actuating all ofsaid latching devices to effect the simultaneous release of all of saidgates.

3. ln combination, a fuselage having draft openings formed in the frontand side walls thereof, horizontally mounted gates for controlling theside openings and a sliding gate for controlling the front opening,means for normally urging the gates to closed position, latching devicesfor the side gates comprising swingingly mounted yokes, a latcliingdevice for the front gate comprising a latch plate, a resilient latchingfinger and a releasing member, and manually operable means forsimultaneously actuating said releasing member and said yokes in suchmanner as to cause said latching linger to disengage said latch plateand said yokes to disengage said gates whereby said urging meansfunctions to lsimultaneously close all of the gates. y

4. ln combination, a fuselage having side and front draft openings,horizontally mounted gates for controlling the side openings, a slidinggate l front opening, springs fornornialj/ urging the gates to closedposition, latching defor controlling the l vices comprising swinginglymounted yolres for maintaining the side gates in open position, andprojections carried by the yolres for limiting the moi/lement of thegates and yolres, a latchmg device for the sliding gate comprising alatch plate carried by the gate, a resilient latching linger engageablewith the plate for maintaining the gate in open position, and areleasing member adapted to engage the finger for moving the latter toreleased position with respect to `said plate, and manually operablemeans for actuating all of said latches comprising a shaft operativelyconnected to said yokes, a second shaft supporting said releasingmember, means for operatively connecting the first shaft with the secondshaft, and a handle for actuating the first shaft whereby said yokes aremoved to disengaged position with respect yto the side gates and saidreleasing member is caused to actuate said latching finger.

5. ln combination, a fuselage having draft openings in the Wallsthereof, closures for said openings, said fuselage being substantiallyair-tight when said closures are in position to close said draftopenings, means for urging said closures to position to close saidopenings, latching mechanism 'for said last named means whereby saidclosures may be releasably maintained in open position, and releasingmechanism for said latching mechanism.

(5, ln combination, a fuselage having draft openings in the wallsthereof, closures for said openings, said fuselage being substantiallyair-tight when said closures are in position to close said openings, andthe flow of air through said draft openings be inor controlled inaccordance with the posi-l h tionV of said closures, and operating meansfor said closures.

7. ln combination, a fuselage including a front wall and side walls,said front wall and said side walls having draft openings, closures forsaid openings, said fuselage being substantially air-tight when saidclosures are in position to close said draft openings, and operatingmeans for said closures.

'"WlliL'lAM JHN SNKEY, JR.

